Blame it on 12 years of Catholic schools and very strict nuns, especially Sister Florencia.  The conundrum of when to use “I” or “me” ranks right up there with “your” and “you’re” and “there”, “their,” and “they’re.”

When I hear someone say “Me and my friend went to the movie last night,” I cannot help but cringe!  The proper way to say this is “My friend and I went to the movie last night.”  (Don’t even get me started on “Me and her went to the movie last night.”)  It amazes me every time I hear a some authority, celebrity, politician, or other specialist make these gaffes when speaking in public.

According to grammar.yourdictionary.com:  “I” is a nominative pronoun, which means that it is used as the subject of a sentence, or as a predicate… “Me” is an object pronoun, which means that it serves as a direct or indirect object to the verb or as the object of a preposition.”  Translation anyone?

If that is as confusing to you as it is to me, just remember these two simple tips:

1. How would you say the statement if there was no other person involved?  If you want to say, “My boss congratulated me and my team for our quarterly sales,” try taking the other person out of the statement to see how you would say it.  “My boss congratulated me for my quarterly sales.”  You wouldn’t say “My boss congratulated I for my quarterly sales.”  The proper way to say it is “My boss congratulated my team and I for our quarterly sales.”  Here’s another example. “My sister and me surprised my dad with a birthday party.”  You wouldn’t say  “Me surprised my dad with a birthday party.”  The proper way to say it is “My sister and I surprised my dad with a birthday party.”
2. Another simple trick is to always say the other person’s name first.  This is not a grammar rule as much as it is just courtesy, again, thanks to Sister Florencia.  “Our boss congratulated my co-worker and me for our quarterly sales” sounds better than “Our boss congratulated me and my co-worker for our quarterly sales.”  “My mother and I surprised my dad with a birthday party” sounds much better than  “Me and my mother surprised my dad with a birthday party.”

Pay attention to others and notice when they use “I” versus “me” when they speak in public.  It might make you cringe when you hear it, but I’m sure you will stop making others cringe now that you know these two tips.